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Left 4 Dead (PC)

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A classic zombie shooter game, Left 4 Dead is set in a post apocolyptic city. Addictive and engaging gameplay in the storymode combined with extensive online play options give this game a lot of playing hours. „

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A great zombie game and shooter.

To some people, the Zombie genre is completely played out. There are countless games, movies, book and TV series involving these undead brain eaters, and yet somehow, Left 4 Dead manages to stand out. The game is a first person shooter, and can be played either own your own (with the rest of your team being controlled by the AI), or with friends or other people online.

The basis of the game is extremely simple; make your way from one safe house to the other, and then eventually to rescue, all while trying not to become one of the infected horde. To aid your on your way, you will a choice of a main gun, a side arm, and then items such as a Molotov cocktail or a pipe bomb. You will also have things to aid you in your own health, such as first aid kits, and pain pills.

While the vast majority of the zombies you face are just simple infected (although they are fast moving, running zombies, rather than the slow walking ones), there are also several types of "special" infected, which make the game harder. These include: The Boomer, a bloated zombie which can spit bile at the survivors, which will attract the horde. Boomers will also explode when killed. The next "special" infected is The hunter, an infected who leaps around and pounces on the survivors, tearing at them until either the survivor is killed, or is killed by another survivor. The final "special" infected is the Smoker. The Smoker has a long tounge which can lynch survivors.

On top of these there are two other infected, though they are rare. The first is the Tank. A huge infected zombie, with the ability to throw large objects at survivors, as well as being able to punch survivors great distances. The final zombie is The Witch. If left alone, the Witch will cause no problems. However, if she is startled, either by light or being shot. Once startled she will chase the survivor who startled her, and will automatically down a survivor in one hit, making her the most dangerous of all the special infected.

The coolest feature of the game is the 'Director'. Use of the 'Director' means that there are no fixed places on a map where the infected will spawn. Depending on how your skill level, and current performance, the 'Director' will alter the game accordingly. What this means is that if you are new to the game, and are struggling, then it is likely that less zombies will spawn at certain points in the game. However, if you are breezing through the game, then the 'Director' may cause a huge mob of infected to spawn. This will also happen if you spend too long standing around in one place, meaning that it is impossible to clear an area and then rest.

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The best first person zombie game I've ever had the pleasure of playing.

LEFT 4 DEAD is a first-person zombie survival cooperative game by VALVE.

Gameplay

The sound of zombies raged from all sides as we struggled through the floors of the abandoned, bloodied hospital. Helicopters fly dangerously close overhead and the building began to shake as the amplitude of the oncoming zombie attack became more apparent, more intense, and infinitely more deadly. Another three people surround me, their names, Bill, Louis and Francis, and they are just as terrified at what might come next. Bill pulls out a fire axe, blood still dripped and stained it from it's last, terrifying, use. Francis held steady his shotgun, feeding it shells with cold, large shaking hands. Louis stood there, calmly awaiting what he knew would come next, cradling his assault rifle in his arms. For a second, there was silence, alas, it was short lived. The door across the corridor slammed open, revealing a linear path between us and the zombies. Louis and Francis stand, gripping their weaponry to attention, then they grip the weapons strongly, and pull the trigger. In a short matter of seconds, there was blazing fire, death in all directions. Charging zombies toppled forwards, backwards and throughout the region, the collapsing of a swarm could be heard. We advanced into the crowd, fingers pressed sorely onto the triggers that were ensuring our survival, our eyes drawn both to the sights of the rifle and the ammunition from which we would reload our weapons. The zombie apocalypse has not left us dampened in sprit. In heart, in mind, in body, we advance.

The gameplay of Left 4 Dead is exactly what you would expect from a game where the world is overrun with zombies, cooperative fun with a variety of weaponry. Actually, that doesn't sound like what a zombie apocalypse would be like. The gameplay doesn't have a lot of variety, but one thing is certain, it is endlessly replayable and brilliant every time. There is, among a selection of general infected almost 'human' enemies. There are other, special, zombies. These include the smoker - the man that has inhaled too much tobacco over his life time, who, when shot produces a cloud of deadly cloud that threatens to choke your team and restrict vision. There is also the Boomer, a sick feeling man who has had too many sandwiches, he's slightly overweight, and he's ready to throw his horde-attracting lunch all over you and the other survivors. In addition, there is the hunter, most equivalent to men who hugely enjoy acrobatics, flying to and fro, sliding onto respective survivors and pulling their guts out in a flurry of gore. There's also the man that should not have taken so many steroids before the infection, and can now knock you a mile with a flick of the wrist. However, possibly the most fearful zombie on the list, is the witch. Transformed from a depressed teenage girl to an absolute evil, you charges at the first sight of light and munches at your arm for producing a footstep, and is the most terrifying zombie of the entire game.

There are several game modes that range from survival to versus. Co-operative is brilliant fun, and the versus modes are fantastic with friends, Valve also regularly add mutations which alter and change the game modes to be completely different. It's an extraordinary idea and it's pulled off very well, especially since these modifications are entirely free on the PC.

Graphics

Left 4 Dead uses the award-winning Valve Source engine, it's hugely scaleable, looking brilliant and running equally brilliantly on the highest settings and running fantastically for lower-end systems such as laptops on lower end settings. The lighting is perhaps the only downfall of the game, as it lacks the dynamic shadows that characterises the atmosphere of so many similar games. The textures, however, are extremely well done and easy to look at. The engine has also been praised for its extreme amount of modification that can be performed on the engine. For this reason, the graphics can be great and there can be so many flavours of gameplay as there are so many maps and gamemodes that have been created by the community. Perhaps it isn't primarily the graphics, but it is an excellent, game elongating feature.

Sound

The sound of the game is characterised by its moody music and the sounds of the oncoming zombie hordes. Everything has a definitive and brilliant sound, from the vomit gurgling of the boomer to the hoarse coughing of the smoker to the chilling resentful sobs of the witch. The sound adds a new dimension to the game, and the game wouldn't be quite the same without it's fantastic addition.

Value for Money / Longevity

The value for money on Left 4 Dead really depends on what you are buying the game for. The game is fantastic with those who have friends to play it with and would like a game where you progress through a zombie apocalypse, and many people may find that they could play the games campaigns over and over again. However, some people may find the games repetitive zombie killing a bore and would want to restrain themselves from ever playing again. The value for money in your mind is really restricted to what you like to play. However, if like me, you enjoy the genre, I'd recommend that this game would satisfy your zombie killing needs for a long time yet.

Multiplayer

The entire prospect of the game is essentially multiplayer, and not just because the bots that feature so prominently in the singleplayer game are both incredibly stupid and occasionally get caught behind walls and taken down by zombies. There is really no reason to put yourself through the cooperative singleplayer experience, when you could be fighting the idiots with your three best mates. The multiplayer is easily among the best features in the whole video game, and I'd highly recommend that you have the internet connection to play it, otherwise you may find the game slightly frustrating and incredibly annoying to play through.

Difficulty

The game ranges from incredibly easy to incredibly hard, with varying difficulty settings. On the highest difficulty settings, the zombies are near impossible to kill as they swarm you in huge numbers, separating you from your team of buddies, whereas on easy they are your average toddlers as they stammer to and fro your path, almost ignoring you with a big 'Shoot me' sign on their large, squidgy heads. The game is just the right difficulty to be great fun.

Content Watch

There is some content in Left 4 Dead that some may find offensive, here is the rundown.

Violence

The violence in Left 4 Dead isn't quite as brutal as it's sequel, it still allows for the mutilation of limbs and the shotgunning of faces, but it isn't nearly as intense or as graphic as the sequel.

There are a variety of weapons to use, but none of them produce significant gory detail.

Language

Bill uses the military term 'FUBAR' at times.

Content Conclusion

It isn't too hard on content, so I presume that anyone that is over the age of fourteen should be able to pass through the games depths fairly well, I'd say 13 up for this one.

Game Conclusion

Shotgun blasting, assault rifle firing and fire axe slicing fun. Left 4 Dead is the whole first-person cooperative linear challenge for a group of up to four friends. It's a must buy for any cooperative fan, especially at the low price at which it can now be found.

I award the game five out of five stars.

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If you enjoy the like of Gears and Call of Duty, this is a must

For those of you into games that feature zombies, and are first person shooters, then you are in for something of a treat. Left 4 Dead is part of Valve, the same company that did the Half Life games, and this is up there with them. The game puts four human playable or AI controlled survivors of an apocalyptic pandemic against hordes of the Infected. Regular Infected are controlled by the games computer, while human players can control up to four mutated Boss Infected with special abilities. The Survivors' goal of Left 4 Dead is to help each other make it through a level to safety. Infected players must cooperate to stop them. The game is a multiplayer survival horror first-person shooter. Basically you are just running around, shooting loads of zombies, but that's what makes it awesome. Every play-through is different too due to the zombie AI director. Zombies will never be in the same place twice. Even when you get past a room or floor you can never turn your back because you never know when zombies will come from behind. You can spend hours of fun on Left 4 Dead. The game may seem basic (just run around, shooting them up), but it just doesn't seem to get boring.

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amazing game, probably one of the best ive ever played

One thing is for sure Valve are not left 4 dead, this game has had huge success world wide and no wonder. Valve has become a symbol of an excellent game. Left 4 Dead has recently come into stiff competition from the incredible Killing Floor. Although i can not compare them in the same light because L4D is a compelling campaign in which you fight hordes of zombies and make to to a room that is safe, hence, the safe room. You can play as one of four characters: Louis , Zoey , Bill , Louis. The game is best played with 3 other friends. The game has fantastic game play and some nice dark scary maps.

-- Price --Left 4 Dead costs as much as any other game and will give you unlimited hours of game play as you will never play the same round twice.

-- Quality --well what can i say. Its Valve what did you expect? It is as always top notch quality at its best, with high detail: maps, skyboxes and models.

-- Overall --Buy it, that's all. Buy it.

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Great game, full of action

This game is pure brilliance. This is a game that makes a perfect online and single player game. The online modes are stunning; Versus, Campaign and Survival. 3 fantastic and enjoyable modes. I personally enjoy Versus Mode, where it is 4 against 4, with both teams switching over being the infected and the survivors.

For the graphics and game play, well, even for Valves standards, they have out done them selves. The game is a pleasure to play, and to be spectating. The graphics are very detailed and the game play is very elaborated, with many infected, weapons, bombs, trees, clouds, cars, buildings, just about EVERYTHING.

The story and the special infected (boss zombies) is so unique as well. The hunter, a hooded zombie that jumps 100's of feet in the air then attacks you, Boomer, large, fat zombie full of explosive methane gas and bile that attracts the horde. A Smoker, a zombie with a 20 foot long lasso, dragging you helplessly, the Witch, a dangerous women zombie, who if disturbs, attacks extremely viciously, killing you in mere seconds by slashing you with her long claws. And finally the the main boss, the Tank. Yep, a huge, solid zombie that can crush and fling the survivors.

The only downside I must say, is that there is no offline multiplayer. Still, 5 star quality game.

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Worth a bash but possibly only if you will milk the multiplayer achievements

This is a great little thriller that really gets your heart pumping.

In short: You are 1 of 4 survivers that play through 4 chapters to escape unscathed from a sudden zombie invasion on your city.

This game uses the half-life 2 engine which always completely amazes with its graphics and physics. The monsters are really innovative, some will grab you from miles away, others will expode poisoned gases in your face. There's a lot of co-operation required to complete the game with real people. If something grabs you then someone will need to save you before you're bludgened to death.

The online community spend most of their time on the multiplayer which is also good fun. One team plays the scenario as normal whilst another repeatedly spawns as the different types of monsters and attacks the players. It becomes a very difficult but engaging game that never fails to get the adrenaline pumping.

There's definitely a lack of content in this game. You can complete it in an afternoon and the achievements (designed to engage you for longer) just get ridiculous like kill 100 of these with a steak knife. They pulled the free trial but if you like resident evil, counter-strike or any games with those themes then I think you will love this.

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One of the best online FPS games

Left 4 Dead is an innovative co-operative first-person shooter with zombies from Valve. Valve have brought us the legendary Half-life series and are also well known for purchasing and developing successful mods, these are Counter-Strike, Day of Defeat and Team Fortress 2. Clearly Valve has produced or been involved in the development of, great first-person shooters and enjoyable multiplayer shooters. As for zombie games, I love the Resident Evil series and other nice horror titles, zombies can provide great entertainment when included properly in films and games.

I only heard about this title from a friend a day or two before it was released. As a new title I don't believe it had anywhere near the level of hype that sequels to classic games can receive. The game cost around £28 from Game on the high street. The price has fallen a little since then and is quite a good deal, games like this can have great replay value as every online game is different.

L4D simply involves four human 'Survivors' plotted against the endless 'Infected' zombies and some 'Special' infected. There were initially three game modes; 'Single player', 'Campaign' and 'Versus', but later 'Survival' mode was added in a major update.

The human characters are a deliberately diverse group, with outfits that stand apart from each other. There is Bill, an old veteran wearing a green beret; Francis, a tough biker with tattoos and a bald head; Louis, a black IT worker in office clothing; and Zoey, a young college student with a red jacket that seems to stand out. There's lots of voice acting for each of them so they yell out relevant and sometimes funny lines throughout the game. I like the design of these characters, they are unique and memorable, the graphical detail is very good and the voice acting is spot on. I tend to pick Francis, his jokes can be funny, just for their timing.

Avid FPS fans will want to know what guns you can use! This is a fairly realistic (perhaps excluding the zombie apocalypse) game and the weapons are typical firearms that people would want to get their hands on. Players always wield a sidearm M1911 pistol, this is weak but very accurate and has infinite ammo. Find another pistol and you can dual-wield! The first primary weapons you will use are an Uzi and a pump-action shotgun. You can only choose one of these, so the choice is important as they're really different. The more powerful weapons on later levels are the Assault rifle (M16A3), Remington Automatic shotgun and the Hunting rifle. Again your tactics must suit the weapon you choose. I tend to use the shotgun all the time, it's really powerful and I like to run up and blast zombies with it! There are also fixed miniguns at a few places, for a team member to man and mow down enemies in it's range. Some may think there should be more choices of guns, but I think the selection is fine, these are realistic, fun to use, and let your team specialise.

Other items are 'grenades' and healing items. You can pick up a single 'grenade' if you find one. This will be a Pipe-bomb, or a Molotov cocktail. You throw a beeping pipe-bomb and watch the infected rush towards it, only to be completely blown up. It's a fun addition that you will enjoy using in panicked moments. The molotov is great for setting certain enemies on fire, it can also block entrances for a number of seconds, this is usually my preferred 'grenade' weapon. There are also gas tanks and petrol containers that can be picked up and detonated by a well aimed round. To heal are 'Pills' and 'Medkits'. Pills will restore your health, but only temporarily. Medkits restore almost all health but take a while to use. This simple range of items are all useful and work really well. I especially like how you can heal your teammates or throw them some pills, giving the team a real feeling of comradery.

The 'Infected' enemies are what makes this game special, these include unique characters that impress with their ugliness and special abilities. The most common zombie enemies are your standard drones that will usually only prove deadly in large groups, they can run quite fast at times, but generally you just mow them down with the rest of your team. The 'Hunter' is an agile chap in a hoodie that can pounce, jumping large distances and if lucky, land on a human to start tearing them up on the ground. They can also perform a simple scratch. The danger with this enemy is that you can't escape a pounced hunter unless a teammate shoots or hits him off! The 'Smoker' is a tall ugly guy with an absurdly long tongue to grab a human with. You can't escape once he's wrapped you, so you've got to look out for each other. The 'Boomer' is a hideous, obese fellow that literally showers you with a toxic vomit mixture that temporarily blinds you and attracts zombies like nothing else. When you shoot the Boomer, he explodes, so you need to stay back or risk getting covered in bile! This character is just a great if disgusting innovation and my hat is off to whoever came up with him. The 'Tank' is the final enemy, he's the boss and is just a huge lump of upper body muscle that runs around hitting you or throwing a big rock (a lump from the ground I guess). He takes a lot of concentrated fire to take down and will often crush the human team single-handedly. Throwing a Molotov does conveniently set him on fire. This diverse bunch that make up the Infected will be there to stop you on every level and game type, their unique abilities create very interesting scenarios and are what make this game such good fun!

L4D uses an 'AI director'. This is basically a clever system that the developers have created which means the Infected will attack in different ways and at different time intervals on all the levels. This is key to making the game re-playable and full of suspense. You will be shocked, scared and sometimes laugh at the different ways things turn out.

In most games, the team of four Survivors start in the 'Safe room'. This is a small room with firearms, ammo and some medkits. The safe room separates levels, and gives the team a respawn point in the event of failure. This is a convenient feature to connect levels and I like the similarity with Resident Evil games.

There are four campaigns, each with five levels. (There is now a new 5th campaign that I haven't got around to playing yet!). These tend to get progressively more difficult and they end with a final level where the team aims to escape on some sort of rescue vehicle. They are very different in appearance and style, ranging from a hospital, a house by the sea, an airport and a spooky farm. There are nice locations that make for good gaming, including bridges, an elevator and a rooftop. There are several 'Event' points, where the team activates a mission critical object and is immediately attacked by several waves of Infected. These are great, they add suspense and let the team employ more cooperation and planning.

Single player mode does not realise the game's potential. It is simply Campaign mode but with no other human players. It's a good choice for new players and for obtaining certain 'Achievements' but you don't get to enjoy the game as it was intended. Saying that, the AI of your team is quite impressive, but just doesn't compare to the spontaneity of humans. Campaign mode is a good starting point. You can choose from Easy to Extreme difficulties, and you will find the difference certainly is extreme. Campaign is the best for a long game with a team of supportive players. There is an engaging thrill during intense moments when teamwork becomes even more important. I want to add that some players, known as 'griefers', are such nihilistic scum, that they join a game only to crush yours and others fun by killing you. This can really hurt on the Extreme difficulty and mess up your game. It's a shame people like this exist.

Versus mode is probably the best for playing over and over. This involves up to eight players, split between Survivor and Infected sides. Playing as Infected is even more fun in my opinion, and as far as I know unique to this game. Each team plays as both sides on each level, whilst a team score builds up over the five levels of a campaign. Playing as the Tank and other special Infected is great fun, especially when you learn some tactics and strategies. For example, on one level as a Smoker, you can drag a human player right off of a ledge and they fall 30 odd feet to the ground and are usually doomed. The other Infected types have all sorts of places to hide and exploit, you can also use teamwork to your advantage just as effectively when playing as the Infected. Versus is my favourite game type, it can be hilarious and a real challenge. With human players working closely on both sides you will always have a different experience.

The biggest update from Valve has been an entire new game mode! This is the great advantage of the Steam content delivery system and shows dedication from Valve as they continue adding to long released games. The new mode 'Survival', is different in that you play as the Survivors against unending waves of Infected. Your sole goal is to survive for as long as possible. This is a completely different game mode and is lots of fun as your team fights frantically. There are also lots of levels to play and achieve a record time for, including the new 'Lighthouse' level. Your team has all the time to prepare, setting gas tanks and petrol containers, before one of you activates the switch and the infinite horde approaches. This game mode probably requires the most serious teamwork and communication to succeed. I really like this addition to the game, it adds much more value to an already very good multiplayer title.

I should comment on the sound and music effects. The voice acting and sound are all virtually perfect and suit the game. Sound effects like alarms and machinery add to the ambience. The music is linked to events. For example the Tank boss enemy has a distinctive theme and the music changes violently when zombies storm your team. The music is another brilliant aspect of the game.

Like many modern games, players can permanently earn 'Achievements'. Perhaps a little obsessively, I enjoy obtaining these. Some new ones have been added since, but I played tirelessly to finally nab all of them. With Survivor mode's addition, 'Medal' achievements in bronze, silver and gold are available for every level. This is a nice incentive to play this mode and achieve the difficult gold (10 minute) survival times. I like the presence of an achievement list, I feel it encourages playing the game in different ways that one may not usually do and is just really rewarding to complete the list.

A very recent update has added a fifth campaign and some achievements. I have not even played this yet, but I will add that it goes to show how generous Valve are with updates, providing so much new content free of charge. Left 4 Dead 2 is due out in November. I'm sure it will also deliver as a great online game. Some in the community are annoyed at this sudden sequel and just want more free updates, but it is completely reasonable for Valve to charge for a new product they have worked hard to create.

In conclusion, Left 4 Dead is an outstanding multiplayer game. It's much less of an experience in Single player mode, so don't buy it for just that. It's a better experience with reliable friends (I have added lots that I found while playing), and as with all online activity, there are rude and destructive people. The game lacks a real plot or story, so treat it as a multiplayer-only classic.

(Review also at Ciao)

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What can you say about such a perfect game? Well, if you are picky like me, you could say that it would make a perfect single player game. Maybe I am billy-no-mates but I find the online games against strangers to be a bit underwhelming. I used to spend many a happy hour playing multiplayer games across the network at work (during lunch of course) and I suspect if I still worked in such a place, this would be great fun.

But I don't work there anymore. So I am limited to the odd online game against friends, when we can organise them or playing using the better-than-average AI of the game itself against the computer-controlled players.

Graphically, Valve have surpassed even their own standards. My PC is 5 years old and still plays well with "everything turned on". Who else but Valve would think to include a "add film grain" option to the graphic settings?

The music is perfect and it is a measure of it's greatness that I leave it turned on.

What would make it better then? This may seem churlish (it is) but how about a true single player game without the team members? This is more a request than a complaint. Left 4 Dead was designed as a multiplayer game and that's what it is.

Maybe more variety in weapons and maybe let us carry more pipebombs/molatov cocktails?

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It's another great online focused game from valve if you can overcome the gore!

I bought Left 4 Dead as many of my friends had been talking about it and how we could all play together killing some zombies :)

I was expecting good things of the game as it had been reviewed highly and had praise from all over. The game isn't to everyones taste as not everyone fancies running around blowing zombies head off, but, even with that, the outstanding thing with this game is how it manages for people to come together, to actually talk to each other and build relationships.

Since buying this game I have made about 10 really good friends, people who I met whilst in the middle of a game trying to save our backsides from the swarms of zombies. Graphically, the game is beautiful, managing to take up to 8 players on a map with hundreds of zombies running around.

The gameplay is very straightforward and you have basic controls such as fire, reload, use object, butt with weapon, and grenade buttons but it works well and allows a good team to strategically fight their way through the hordes.

Left 4 Dead does have a single player mode but it is rarely used, the average player might play it once but then the real focus would be on the multi player since it is so much more pleasing playing with real people. At the time of buying I paid £29.99 and as with all Valve games, the price has not dropped considerably.

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If you like zombies and first person shooters, this is for you!

Left 4 Dead is one of the most original first person zombie games for a long time. The premise of each of the levels is simple, get to the end, without being killed by zombies. This game is made for multiplayer action which can be done over the internet, LAN or even splitscreen (which is very rare with PC games) with the new patches. You can play with the keyboard and mouse, the 360 pad and there are even videos of people playing with wii controllers.

There are many types of zombies in this game which are discussed below. The generic/main type of zombies in this game are not like the ones from resident evil, but have more of a like to the type of zombies off 28 days later. This means that they are very fast and come at you in big hoardes.

There are also 5 types of special zombies that will crop up from time to time. There are smokers; these have long tongues and attack you by grabbing you with them from long distances. There are hunters; these can jump very far and when they land on you they just lie on top of you and claw at you. There are boomers; these are very fat and either throw up on you or blow up on you, causing a hoarde of zombies to come for you. Each of these will also just strike you at close distances. There are tanks; these are huge zombies that have lots of health, are very strong and can throw huge pieces of rock at you. Finally, there is the witch (there is usually one in every level), who if startled will kill you almost instantly unless you are very lucky.

The single player and Co-Op modes are the same, and they consist of 4 characters (controlled by human input or computer if not enough players) trying to get to escape from different places. There are currently 4 campaigns: No Mercy (A hospital), Death Toll (countryside)Dead Air (an airport) and Blood Harvest (Farmland). One more is currently in the works and will be released via a patch for free! Each of these campaigns is split into five chapter. At the end of most of the chapters, the characters get a safehouse; giving them a chance to heal, refill ammo and change guns without the worry of being eaten. The final chapter of each campaign consists of the characters having to defend their position until help comes in the form of helicopters, boats etc.

The weapons on the game are assault rifles, sub machine guns, two types of shotgun, molotov cocktails, pipe bombs and a hunting rifle. Also, you have the ability to carry first aid kits and painkillers. These can be used on yourself and also can be used to heal your teammates. Painkillers, will give you more health for a certain amount of time, where as first aid kits will increase your health until you get hurt again. When a member of the team goes down, they can be resuscitated if you get to them quickly enough.

There is also a survival mode, which is basically seeing how long you can hold out for against hoarde after hoarde of zombies. In each of these, one of the players has to perform an action, such as flick a switch, and the hoardes will start coming after you. These hoardes to include the special zombies mentioned above. At the end you are given a time, and if you did well enough, you also earn bronze, silver or gold medals. Survival mode can be played on various different chapters.

The final game mode on Left 4 Dead is Versus mode. The levels played are identical to the campaigns, however, the special zombies are controlled by other players. The game will end when either, all the of human players have been killed, or when the human players have got to the safehouse.

This is a really good fun game that I would recommend you buy. The game is quite jumpy and very good fun to play in the dark with your friends.

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greatest recent zombie game, not quite must have but so close its scarier than zombies.

As a zombie fan I got left 4 dead as soon as I saw it in a store and it has not let me down. (please note that I have a broad sense of zombie)

I love versus mode, although teamwork is essential you can make it more interesting, for instance: you run ahead and shoot a car to try and doom your team mates but lo' a hunter pounces you and they make it into the saferoom whitout saving you! those bastard ;)playing as a zombie is great too the feeling you get when your ambush works out and you're tearing up a survie is the best you will ever get in a game.

in survival mode you get to have the glorious last stand against ravvening undead hordes you always immagined.

While I write this I heard they are finnaly implementing a system for player made maps so that is good to know ;)

it was definatly worth the 50 euro I paid for this, I know most people will agree that the time they got out of this was worth that too.

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A bold attempt at a much-tread genre

We all love zombie films, and Left 4 Dead, the latest offering from gaming maestros Valve, who turn to gold virtually anything they touch, is about as close as you're going to get to participating in a full-blown zombie invasion. It fuses Valve's FPS experience from the Half Life series with the sheer, unadulterated chaos of multiplayer fare to create a game that is a uniquely frenetic, highly entertaining gaming experience.

The premise is incredibly thin, but like many of the best zombie films, less is more as far as exposition goes - the burned out cars and abandoned streets say as much as you need to know, and to be honest, the ambiguity and not-knowing is far creepier and more effective anyway. The game follows you and three companions as you attempt to survive the zombie invasion. What's great here is the sense of comeraderie between you all - the lines exchanged between the members are frequently hilarious, and totally reinforce the B-movie atmosphere that the situation entails.

And what's special about Left 4 Dead is that the friendly-AI isn't just window dressing like in so many other games - they are vital to your survival and vice versa. These characters aren't just grunts - they have personality, and the fact that there are only three of them with distinctive dress codes and looks, must make this easier. In short, if you venture off away from your buddies, you will be savaged rather quickly. Injury also makes you move slower, so you have to keep your wits about you, and also check to make sure you're not leaving any injured teammates behind. Further still, friendly fire is enabled, meaning you REALLY have to keep your eye out when firing upon the enemy.

The game also avoids the pitfalls of many other survival horror games by always remaining unpredictable and fresh. Despite offering only 4 campaigns which last a little over an hour each, a character called the Director checks in on you ever so often and alters variables such as enemy distribution, health packs etc to accomodate you. If you're finding it too easy, it'll ramp the difficulty up, and vice versa, making this a very well optimised game for a variety of gamers.

What is perhaps the game's real treat, though, is the multiplayer option. There is a delightful versus option wherein you can take part in 4v4 deathmatches, 4 playing as humans, and 4 playing as the infected. Playing as the rabid, savage zombies is something few games have properly attempted before, and here, it is deep and varied: some can vomit on the enemy, some can run, and if you're lucky, you might even land in control of the steroid-pumped, monstrous beast that turns humans to mush in a few hits. The only real downside is that you can only use two maps from the campaign, for some strange reason.

Visually, the game is pretty good for something running on the Source engine. It's not going to rival Crysis or anything for that reason, but there's a high level of detail and a lot of effort put into atmospheric effects like the lighting and use of shadow. Aurally, also, the game finds success - voiceover work is realistic but also presents levity a lot of the time, and the sounds of the zombies attacking sounds like something out of a Romero film if you pumped it with seroids.

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Great Zombie Shoot-'em up

Zombies, Guns and Vomit. What more can you ask for from a Zombie Shoot-em up? Not a lot I hear you say, and I think you'd be right. Left 4 Dead is one of the newest games to be added to the ever growing collection from Valve, who created classics such as Half Life and Counter Strike Source. Left 4 Dead is set in a post apocalyptic city in the height of zombie season. A virus has ravaged the world and it leaves the 4 main characters of the story (the survivors) strangely unaffected due to an unexplained immunity to said virus. You control one of the 4 survivors with either 3 friends online or, computer controlled 'bots' offline. Your goal is to get to the safe room of each 'level' having slain hundreds of zombies along the way. After reaching the 5th level of each campaign you are thrown into a 'finale' where you have to set up defences for a set period of time against a never ending stream of zombies. Left 4 Dead has extensive online modes that provide HOURS of fun. The versus mode allows for 4v4 bouts, with the chance to control the special infected characters, normally reserved for the computer. The game is definately worth the buy however, with the recent annoucement of 'Left 4 Dead 2' at the E3, it may be worth holding off till the new game comes out around November time.

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If you want a fast paced FPS with the bonus addition of zombies, there is only one title L4D

What can you really say about left 4 dead, well the first word that comes to mind is OMGWTFBBQZOMBIES, yea thats right. L4D is an action packed Zombie FPS that drags Co -op kicking and screaming along with it. Unlike most games where co-op is an optional perk, L4D is completely made for you and your mates to take up arms and fight the hordes to survive.

L4D uses the powerful and reliable source engine to power its zombie madness. This means that even older machines can join in as with the settings at low the games doesn't look too bad, so no need to upgrade with expensive hardware, for the PC version that is, as with most FPS, they are truly at their best on the PC, however the Xbox version shouldn't disappoint either.

so what are you waiting for? grab 3 of your mates and get out there and kill some zombies? what? want more information? what more information can you need? Zombie genocide with gore, guns, bombs and the good old faithful petrol bomb

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Great game to pass the time away

Well I really like this game! I am left pretty speechless in fact.

Here goes... I watched the film I am Legend before playing the game and I can't help but notice some similarities in story line albeit drastic changes in behaviour etc... So with my word been eaten by an immense game lets talk about graphics.The graphics in this game are second-to-none and are on par with Call of Duty 4 and Test Drive Unlimited. The physics engine is also another marvel and is the best I've ever seen (possibly stolen from COD4).The storylines are quite short and you never really know from the beginning what is going on and what has happened previously. The game is a learn-as-you-go-along kind of deals where you come across a super zombie and your team tell you what to do, after several encounter with said zombies you get to know their noises, capabilities and more importantly how to avoid them/kill them effectively. Much to my annoyance there seems to be this big brute of a character call a tank that is built like its name and is a bugger to kill, you empty two full magazines from your assault riffle with your team piling round into him and he doesn't die for some time yet, plus he then insists on picking on you whilst your team are lost somehow.Now lets get to the annoying little buggy bits with the game, if you get too far ahead and your team are trapped by a horde of zombies they don't follow you and keep themselves busy whilst you twiddle you thumbs waiting for them to catch up. Another annoyance is the fact that when you come across a super zombie and you are just a bit too far ahead of your team and they are on their way you always end up fighting it yourself and then being healed by a team-mate afterwards which is not very polite at all.Overall I am not impressed with the AI of the team you work with but the enemy AI is too good.

I still love this game though, I love the looks, I love the physics and I love the fact it keeps me amused days on end.

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Product Details

Left 4 Dead (L4D) is a new action title from Valve, creators of the Counter-Strike and Half-Life games, that promises to redefine the co-operative genre as those titles did for multiplayer and single player action games.